These Brothers Want to Transform Everything About Classic Car Auctions

I've never even bought a $100k car, new or used. I'm in the "budget" vintage school. A 1973 Citroen SM. A 1991 Porsche 928GT. A 1987 911 Targa. I'm 43 years old. Having grown up with the internet, I've grown my minor collection the new-fangled way: eBay. I lie in bed nightly, iPad in hand, hunting car auctions sites for the cars I might buy someday. As I scrimp and save and slowly ascend Alex Roy's Pyramid of Automotive Actualization, I'm utterly appalled at what I find. Forget about the cars. How is one expected to parse the fractured and uninformative listings from even the biggest names in the auction business? If I don't have the time, how do these people expect to expect to bring in the next generation of web-savvy collectors?

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Luckily, the famed Keno Brothers have decided to step in and bring vintage car auctions into the 21st century. Leigh & Leslie Keno, the beloved and dapper twins who've appeared on PBS's Antiques Roadshow since 1996, are launching their alternative to the legacy houses with their inaugural "Rolling Sculpture" event.

DW Burnett/Puppyknuckles

In partnership with vintage car collector and tech entrepreneur Bradley Farrell, "Rolling Sculpture" will also debut their custom-built auction platform, which resolves the inefficiencies of rival sites stuck in 2002 design templates. Ever played Forza or Gran Turismo? Then KenoBrothers.com will feel instantly familiar. Every page—from the general sale listing to the individual car pages—looks and feels like the pre-race screen from the world's greatest unreleased racing sim.

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Rather than dump a mountain of cars into the sale, the Kenos couldn't have placed a bigger stake in ground of vintage auction street cred when they placed this car in the auction:

Keno Brothers

Behold. Yes. A 1972 Nissan Fairlady Z 432. This appreciation for something beyond the usual European fare is precisely why I love their taste. This is how you get the attention of the next generation of vintage collectors. An estimate of $125-250k? Count me in. I'll only have to sell the SM, 928 AND my Polizei M5 to do so.

Or how about this?

Keno Brothers

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Yes. A 1968 Bizzarrini Strada 5300. My manhood wilts at the thought that someone else will own this car next month. Want. Want.

These are not your usual choices. These are the selections of real curators, of people who genuinely love each and every car they've chosen to put in their sale, of people who understand that Ferrari isn't everything. Somehow I think Farrell had something to do with it. Just a guess.

This site speaks speaks directly to me. Cars for sale and myriad content about each are unlocked as the auction date approaches. I actually found myself returning to the site several days in a row to read up on cars I'd never have considered. Instead of the lazy boilerplate cribbed from Wikipedia, each car's history is lovingly told in proper prose devoid of the usual spelling errors. My interview with Valentino Balboni last week was the product of the Keno's desire to bring each car to life in a pre-sale video, with experts on hand to place the car in context. No more hunting on Hagerty and CCA sites for market trends and potential issues. Every aspect of the presentation is intended to educate and save time for potential buyers.

That's the crux of it. The more you spend, the more you want the personal touch. The sense that someone cares about what they're selling you, and that they want you to know everything they know. If I should ever come into enough disposable income to purchase my sixth "Fourth Car," I don't want to spend months tracking down arcane information. I want to know everything about it upfront. My everything goes way beyond the specs. I want to know that Balboni tested this specific Miura, and that he still remembers it today.

Which is why the Keno's site perfectly solves a problem everyone should be lucky enough to have: where to spend late nights in bed, iPad in hand, reading up one's dream cars, and finding everything in one place.

If you're in NYC, come join me on the November 19th at the "Rolling Sculpture" auction in NYC. You may register at KenoBrothers.com. I'll be there oogling the Fairlady Z.

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